Chapter 159. An Assassin’s and Friend’s First Day of Work (5/9)

The two of us returned to the floor and stocked everything. She’d already been informed how to do it by Rosa. When she finished stocking her share on the shelves, she asked me sparkly-eyed like an eager student who wanted their teacher to hurry up and grade their art project, “How does it look? Is this good?”

When I saw it I flinched back. She’d done it better than I had. The distancing was perfect and meticulous. All the labels were front and center. None of the products were on their sides and the shelves looked completely filled despite there still being space for more behind them.

“You did good, okay? Too good. You’re making me look bad. Stop trying so hard, you damn honor student! The managers will start holding me to a higher standard because of you. I don’t want to have to work harder than I need to.”

“Hahaha, I did good? Great.”

I took the chance to teach her a bit about some of the products we had for sale and the most common questions customers had about them. Just some basic stuff, nothing too overly complicated. She was… taking notes on her phone.

“You aren’t going to be asked to write a test of this later you know.”

“I want to at least be good at my first job. Please don’t mind me.”

She was too hyped up over it being her first job. Everything was still new and fresh to her.

“Haaaaah. As long as you’re competent, that’s all that really matters. You don’t need to stress yourself over being the best or anything. It’s a minimum wage job. Don’t go killing yourself over little things. You don’t need to learn everything immediately, so just take your time and rely on your seniors at work. You’re not expected to know everything right away.”

“Anyway, you can take the register again now. I still haven’t taken my break yet.”

“Right, please enjoy your break. I can hold down the fort.”

“Don’t get cocky, I’m not leaving you alone. I’ll be right at the counter watching you the entire time.”

“What? No way, take your break properly.”

“When you have some more experience I will. For now, just listen to what you’re told.”

“Fine.” She looked a bit dejected.

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“Yeah. You let me rest in the back room but you’re not.”

“I did the same for Rosa yesterday. You’re not getting any special treatment. Once you’ve really got everything down, only then can I relax.”

“I understand. Haaaaaah.” Her shoulders slumped down as she let out a cute sigh.

“I just want to be useful.”

“You’re doing well for your first day despite the small mistakes you make here and there.”

“By the way… I only just noticed it but…” Having said what I’d just said, I felt a bit awkward to point out what she’d messed up. 

“What is it?”

I squatted down and picked up two of the boxes which were side by side and filled with the candy bars she’d just stocked the shelves with.

“Though these look like the same product at first glance, the UPC on the box is different from the price tag label. If you look closer, you’ll realize the flavors are different from what’s on the label on the shelf, they’re also a different price.”

“Ah. Sorry, I just stocked those too.”

“Some customers will complain if the price is more expensive even if it’s just a few cents more than they expected. In those cases, we have to discount it since it was our fault for this type of mix-up. Though, you occasionally have customers that try to pull a fast one by switching the boxes themselves, so you should be mindful of that as well. Try to keep a lookout for such customers. The first time it happens you don’t need to call them out on it. Just accept it as an honest mistake. If it happens again after you fix it and you notice a trend develop with a particular customer, report it to a manager and they can review the security footage to see what’s going on.”

“If it is a new employee that keeps making an honest mistake, then that’s fine. A manager will educate the employee accordingly to fix it so it doesn’t happen again.”

“However… if it turns out it is a specific repeat customer doing so over and over again, you will need to pay more attention to them when they enter the store. If you have a partner on your shift with you or don’t have a line, you can leave the counter, approach the customer, and ask if they need assistance with anything. Basically, you put some pressure on them. They will eventually take the hint and vaguely understand the store is onto what they’re doing. They typically stop once they realize the jig is up.”

“On rare occasions though, they will get very defensive and demand to speak to your manager claiming they are being harassed. If there is no manager on duty, in your case while you’re still new, you’d refer to whoever your senior employee is at the time if you have one with you and let them deal with it. If the customer keeps pushing for someone higher, but no one is available in the store which is typically the case for our shift, then take their information and let them know you will have a manager get in touch with them to take their complaint.”

“Once it reaches that stage, the manager will let them know we have security footage showing exactly what they’ve been up to. The manager will then present them with an ultimatum, either stop doing what they’re doing, be banned from the store, and in the absolute worst case, involve the police in the matter if they choose to continue being a nuisance.”

“Oh, to think that sort of thing is something that would happen. Why would people do something like that though?”

“It adds up over time. A few cents here and there can turn into a good little bit of change. People do what they have to do to survive. Sometimes the difference between having an extra dollar and not having it is the difference between whether someone can eat or not. In extreme cases, it can be the fine line between life and death.”

“Though, there are some people that just do it for the thrill. To see if they can get away with it.”

“Really? Just for a little thrill?”

“Yeah. There are all sorts of people out there in the world, Alicia. Working in a convenience store, you meet all kinds of crazy people. Some just do it because they can. While others just do what they can to get by in life. At the end of the day, the world isn’t easy. You’ve been protected and sheltered by your mother for a very long time. From now on, you’ll meet good honest people like yourself, but you will also have the chance to meet the bad ones as well. You’ll even meet the desperate ones in need.”

“This is the real world, Alicia. It’s not the isolated garden of high school you’re so used to. It’s not all fun and games here. People's livelihoods are at stake. Both yours and mine as well. If we do poorly and get fired as a result, we will suffer greatly. If the store goes under because we make some devastating mistake, it’s not only us who suffers, it’s everyone who works here. That is why you have to be responsible.”

“If you smell a gas leak in the building of smoke, report it immediately. Before you leave for work, check the tap in the bathroom to make sure it hasn’t been left running. It wouldn’t be funny if the place got flooded and inventory was damaged. The building walls could end up rotting, maybe the foundation would decay. Perhaps water winds up in an outlet or exposed electrical wire that a rat nibbled on and the entire place goes up into flames.”

“All sorts of unexpected things like this can happen and even if you have insurance, there’s no guarantee the insurance company won’t try to weasel their way out of paying. They will nitpick at anything they can to avoid paying out.”

“What? Why would they do something like that?”

“That’s just how the world works. Not everyone is honest and forthright. If the world was ideal and everyone was like you, things might be all fine and good. But sadly, the world is filled with people who have their own best interests in mind. Money makes the world go round. If someone can save their money, it’s only natural that they will do so.”